


The Good Man

by Neebsandtatties



Category: Fallout 3
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, Lots of sniping and bickering with each other, mentions of past Female Lone Wanderer/Mister Burke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 16:38:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5463602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neebsandtatties/pseuds/Neebsandtatties
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Set after the Main Quest* She was the Lone Wanderer. He was the Enclave Colonel. Together, they form an unlikely and fragile alliance. *Oneshot quest Drabbles*</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Good Man

**Author's Note:**

> Posted from my FF.net account. Written in 2009.
> 
> After playing the main quest so many times, I became somewhat attached to Colonel Autumn and the Enclave. So I was very excited to find out that Nexus Mod had a follower companion Mod for Colonel Autumn by Lawlder. It's so well made and I had such fun tagging Autumn around as a pack mule and body guard. Thus this fic was inspired by my adventures and the adventures of other players who dragged the colonel all over the wasteland as well.

 

 **"These chords are old but we shake hands**  
**'Cause I believe that they're the good guys**  
**We can use all the help we can**  
**So many minor chords outside"**

**Josh Ritter "Good Man"**

* * *

"Hello Colonel," stated a female voice casually, as if finding the esteemed and infamous Colonel Augustus Autumn in the brig of Rivet City was an everyday occurrence.

The man in question looked up and felt his face twist into a snarl. Such was the effect that the Lone Wanderer had on him.

After all, she had been his downfall.

The female in question was quite young; only perhaps nineteen or twenty in age. She was adorned in a denim jacket that had certainly seen better days, leather slacks worn and cracked with age and boots that were old, shabby but still obviously loved. A wrist mounted computer flashed every now and then, lighting the Rivet City Brig a pleasant emerald green.

Nothing about her weathered and fraying appearance indicated that the young woman was the supposed "Best, Last Hope of Humanity". He had simply known her by her last name of Cameron, and he hated her.

"Harkness mentioned you had been tossed in here. I came to see if it were true. I'm surprised really. I thought the Brotherhood had killed you."

He snorted. "Huh, as if those jumped up boy scouts could kill me," the old colonel replied bitterly. What he would not give for a Laser pistol or an Enclave Eyebot. Neither the steel bars of his cell nor the Lone Wanderer from Vault 101 would have been safe.

"You really did this to yourself. You know that right?" The female continued idly from the other side of the prison cell, her gloved hands braced against her hips. Autumn kept his jaw clenched and said nothing in response. The man did not want to dignify her comment with a response. She was not deserving of that.

Clearly, his silence seemed to do nothing to dampen the girl's cheerful spirits. She toddled forward and sat down into the chair opposite his cell then folded her arms neatly across the swell of her chest. "Just so you know, there is a debate going on with the council whether or not they should just hand you over to the Brotherhood of Steel. You probably deserve it."

He hated the way her large, brown eyes seemed to glitter at little too brightly at that last sentence. He could not stand the way she gave him that mirthful little smile. She had gotten under his skin and he hated her for it. That was most likely why the prisoner's self-restraint snapped so quickly.

Or maybe it was the alcohol still playing havoc his system.

It was quite hard to tell.

"So, you're just here to brag right? Go ahead. Ruin my day. You've ruined everything else of mine."

Cameron's forehead crinkled slightly, as if she were contemplating something difficult. "No, I'm not here to brag."

Autumn shifted in his cell. "Then why are you here then?"

"I've got a proposition for you."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What kind of proposition?" the colonel asked.

"The fun kind."

"Hmm, I doubt that."

She unfolded her arms and suddenly looked very serious to the Enclave Colonel. It almost seemed out of place to him. After all, since as long as he had known her, the Lone wanderer had always been rather cheerful. Even when he had pressed his pistol to her temple back in Ravenrock, Cameron had simply quirked her head and gave him a merry little smile, as if she welcome the thought of death. He had been convinced she was mad or senile. Probably both.

"Listen Autumn. I'll just cut right to it. No point in wasting time. This 'Capital Wasteland' business… I can't do it on my own. I'm tired of doing it on my own. I need someone to watch my back. Someone with experience. Someone who knows how to get shit done."

He quirked an eyebrow, acting quickly to mask his surprise behind a smirk. Best not to let the Vault Dweller have an inch because she would most likely take a mile. He knew that from personal experience. "And you think that someone is me? Correct me if I'm wrong kid, but I tried to kill you. Twice." If only he had succeeded. 

Cameron's expression didn't change. "I can't think of anyone better qualified. You're an Enclave Colonel. Best of the best are you not?"

Autumn leaned back against the steel wall of the brig. "Why not just get that one of those boy scouts from the Brotherhood to help you?" Autumn inquired. "I thought you were all best buddies."

"Because they are underhanded, thieving bastards. A bit like you come to think of it," Cameron answered, yet there was no malice in her voice.

Autumn couldn't stop himself from grunting in agreement. At least about the Brotherhood. "Least that is something that we can agree on."

"So are you interested?" she enquired.

Autumn braced his arm on his thigh and rested his chin upon his hand. He would entertain her, for now. It's not as if he had anything better to do. "Say I do decide to help you, what is exactly is in it for me?" he asked lazily.

The lone wanderer looked around the jail, eyebrows raised as if she thought he were being deliberately ignorant. It was obvious that the beached city did not often have prisoners since most of the cells came complete with complimentary cobwebs on the locks. "Think of this as a 'Get-out-of-jail-free card. I'll get you out of here and help you find what remains of the Enclave."

"Well ain't that just a load of nonsense. As if you could find any of my officers," answered the Colonel indignantly. He liked to think he had trained his men better than that.

"I already have a lead on a few of your officers, ones the Brotherhood haven't found. Don't you want get out there and find them?"

Of course he wanted to get out there and find them. Autumn felt his temper flare and he wondered briefly if he could squeeze out the bars of the cell to wring her neck. If not, the good Colonel would have simply settled for trying to pull the Lone Wanderer through the narrow steel bars. "You're lying," he replied flatly.

"I overheard Lyons talking about them. If you want to find what's left of the Enclave before the Brotherhood do, you'd best help me."

"How can I be sure that you won't just hand me over yourself just for a laugh?"

Cameron's brow furrowed and she frowned, an expression that didn't suit her pretty face. "I think I've proven my word enough to you already thank you very much. I let you walk away once before didn't I?"

The former Enclave commander grunted in recollection. He remembered the shame of it all a touch too vividly. "Sometimes I think you would have done me a service by shooting me in the Jefferson memorial," he remarked resentfully. The offer of an alliance with the Lone Wanderer sounded almost too good to be true. Cameron was hiding something. Autumn could feel it in his old bones. Something about the entire situation did not add up, no matter which way he looked at it. She had made it perfectly clear the last time they had...tussled that she wanted nothing more to do with him. And vice versa.

What had changed? He looked to her -  who was examining the screen of her Pip-Boy - and wondered if he had in fact gone completely insane without even realising it. An alliance with the Lone Wanderer? Last time they met, they had been staring each other down the barrel of their guns. But stranger things had happened to the Enclave Colonel as of late. Had someone told him three weeks previously that he would fail at the hands of the Brotherhood of Steel, Autumn would have likely laughed in their face, court marshalled them if necessary then sent them on their merry way.

Cameron was still waiting for an answer. "So, you in Autumn? Or do you want to stay in this little cell until the Brotherhood show up?"

Like hell did he want to stay in that little cell until the Brotherhood showed up. He owed it to his men to get back to them, even if it meant working with the Lone Wanderer. "Alright then kid. I'm in."

The minute the words left his mouth, Colonel Autumn knew he would live to regret them.

Of that, he was more than certain.

* * *

Katie could not believe how easy it had been to enlist the Colonel's help. He must have been desperate.

Ugly desperate.

She chanced a quick glance over her right shoulder, making sure that the Colonel was still following her and had not tried to bolt.

Again.

The man sitting trotting after her like a lost dog was indeed Colonel Autumn, just not quite as she remembered him. The lone wanderer had never ever expected to see him again after Project Purity. Back then, the Colonel had been intimidating and determined. He had carried so much bearing and authority in his voice and words alone that the lone wanderer had always felt an horrible need to obey his orders. Maybe she just had a thing for authority. God she hoped not. 

Now, he did not look the least bit intimidating or determined. The body guards were gone, as was his unwavering frown. He looked thinner than she remembered and tense, so very tense. His sturdy and somewhat iconic coat was rumpled and creased – almost as if he had been sleeping it in. Combed, grey hair that had once gleamed like polished silver appeared dull and ruffled and his eyes were heavy with exhaustion. Worse still was that the stench of whiskey still clung to him like an overbearing aftershave. He did not look like the dominating and commanding predator that she had been accustomed to seeing in the past.

It was a rather sorry sight indeed.

She considered it fortunate that she had come along in time.

It had been easy to convince Harkness to release him into her custody, and easier still to persuade him not to tell the Brotherhood. Her word had weight now to it, and she enjoyed using it. She swore she would keep him in line, and had even been able to sign his weapons back over to her.

"Not too much further now Colonel," Katie stated, trying to keep the conversation going. The colonel merely grunted in typical Autumn fashion as he followed her. Every so often, Katie heard a tut of disapproval or snort of disgust. She wrinkled her nose at his arrogance. Rivet City was dark, noisy but safe. Wires hung down from the ceiling like jungle vines and copper pipes lined the wall and, surprisingly enough, in good condition. Floor lights were dotted down every pathway and flat panel monitors were placed in strategic positions at the end of corridor; displaying temperatures, new bulletins and a map of the city every four minutes. It was very unlike the clean, polished and almost sterile Raven Rock that Colonel Autumn was no doubt used to.

"So how long have you been here for Colonel?" Cameron asked, not entirely expecting an answer. He had hardly been forthcoming with his conversations.

Imagine her surprise when she got one.

"Twenty six days, four hours and seventeen minutes," answered the Enclave colonel, casting a disapproving glance at Tammy Hardgrave as they passed. "And yourself?" asked the southern Colonel.

Katie rounded into a second corridor before answering with some level of surprise. She had expected him to stay quiet and sulky. Still at least he was trying to make conversation. "Oh? Me? Only a day or so. I was unconscious for nearly two weeks after what happened at Project Purity. You're lucky I came by when I did, otherwise Harkness was gonna hand you over to the Brotherhood. Ah, here we are."

She suddenly stopped abruptly outside a heavy bulkhead door. The colonel leaned against the steel walls; looking quite exhausted. She had to wonder just how much sleep he had gotten over the past two weeks. Judging from the circles under his eyes, Katie guessed very little.

Not that she really cared.

The teenager heaved open the heavy bulkhead, not bothering to ask for Autumn's assistance. She doubted he'd even help at all. The steel door swung open with a sick groan. Given how he looked at the door with disapproval, she doubted he was used to such conditions.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." She gave a sweeping motion, gesturing the old colonel forward into her rented Rivet City apartment. The Enclave commander threw her a disgruntled look before brushing past her through the door. Katie followed him into the quarters that she rented whenever she had business in Rivet City.

And Judging by the Colonel's facial expression, he was certainly not impressed with her home. Though it was highly spacious, it was quite barren. The sparsely adorned lobby was connected to the bedroom where lived a double bed, a few empty wardrobes and a desk with a terminal. Another corridor to left lead off to a small kitchen that was barely big enough for two people while a second lead towards a tiny bathroom that had to be bleached several times before Katie even considered using it. The living room doubled as a tiny dining room and held a table and two chairs, a beat up coffee table and a very old bookcase.

Despite its limited dimensions, Katie was extremely happy with her apartment. It offered all she needed and as long as she had a place she could call home, she wasn't going to complain. If the good Colonel didn't like it, he knew where the bulkhead door was.

She watched him with a surreal sense of fascination as Autumn scout out her apartment, as if he were deliberately looking for things to complain about. He was going to be disappointed to find none. Katie kept her apartment spick and span. "It's not exactly much but it does the job," Katie stated before she trotted on through to the tiny kitchen. Colonel Autumn followed her, looking out of place among the rust. Despite the fact that he looked as if he had been dragged through a hedge backwards, the Colonel still appeared refined and when compared to her apartment. "Well, It's not _my_ quarters at Raven Rock." Autumn looked around once more. "But it's not a hole in the ground either," he continued, his southern tone a touch softer.

The colonel then proceeded to sink into her battered armchair and put his booted feet up on the coffee table as if he owned the place.

Katie supposed it was just his way of saying thanks.

She stared at him for a few moments then trotted on through to the kitchen, looking to make some coffee. God above knew she could do with some. She looked longingly at the sink and was half tempted to drown herself. The realisation of what she had just done had finally sunk in. Katie groaned and placed her face in her gloved hands. What on earth had she been thinking? This was Augustus Autumn, the commander of the Enclave armed forces and the man who had driven her father to an early grave. She should have been shooting him rather than bailing him out of jail. Why had she bailed him out of jail?

Katie sighed and rubbed the grit from her eyes. She knew why she had bailed him out of jail, why she had felt him as a kindred spirit. She felt royally screwed over by the esteemed Brotherhood of Steel. Without Madison Li, Katie had felt lost and alone. She had no one to turn to, no one whom would listen. The Capital Wasteland saw the Brotherhood as heroes and champions. It was of her opinion that they seemed to take all the credit for Project Purity. Katie was still treated as an outsider despite Elder Lyon's assurances that she was a welcome member.

She fished out a couple of satchels of Instant Coffee that were only a _few_ centuries past their sell-by date then emptied a few bottles of purified water into the battered, battery powered kettle on the kitchen counter. She found a packet of white dust that was once sweeteners at the bottom of a box somewhere and proceeded to trot through to the living room to ask the Enclave colonel whether or not he took sugar.

There was Colonel Autumn. Asleep in her arm chair and snoring away without a care in the world. His chin was touching his chest. His shoulders had relaxed considerably. Steel grey hair flopped lifelessly over his eyes, the locks rising upwards when he breathed out. He looked so very vulnerable, so unlike the domineering predator that she had been accustomed to. The colonel's scowl was gone, replaced by a much more relaxed and peaceful expression that made him appear years younger.

The sight made Katie's lips tip upwards into a small smile and she discarded all thoughts of making coffee. She had never associated Autumn and normality together. It was just a dangerous combination. Katie had not ever figured that the colonel did anything remotely human such as sleeping or eating. 

She crossed the living, her leather boots soft against the threadbare carpet. She gave him a hard prod. The colonel did not even have the decency to awaken. He simply mumbled something and carried on ignoring her. She did it again, harder this time. Yet still he remained fast asleep.

It quickly became obvious that Autumn was not going to budge no matter how many times she prodded him.

So she opted for physically moving him. She reached down and gave one of his arms a tug. "Come on Autumn. Let's get you to bed. You're not cluttering up my living room, looking all old and shit."

He grumbled in protest as he cracked an eye open. "Huh You call this a living room?"

She decided that he was just being deliberately uncooperative and difficult. She gave one more tug and somehow managed to heave him to his booted feet. The six foot one man fell against her like a puppet without strings. God he was heavy for an old guy. She looped one of his arms over her shoulder and grasped a fist of denim-like material.

Carefully, she lead the man through to her barren bedroom. "Really colonel, I don't know how you would have managed without me. This is just sad now."

He mumbled again something, threatening to fall asleep on her again. Katie gave him a little shake as she pushed the door open to her bedroom. With a little bit of coaxing, the removal of one tanned overcoat and a few grumbles, Katie managed to bundle the man into the double bed. It was not until she had tugged his boots off did she realise she had given him the only bed in her apartment. Perfect, just perfect. She should have been putting him in a coffin, not a bed for the sort of shit he had done. Perhaps that radiation in Project Purity's control room had affected her more than she had first realised. _Yes, that it was_ she told herself. It was the radiation.

Katie looked to the colonel and was not the least bit surprised to find that he was asleep again. It was almost impossible not to feel sorry for him, not when he looked like that. "Looks like it's just you and me tonight Mister Sofa," she remarked softly to herself before she flicked the bedroom light out.

* * *

Colonel Autumn awoke with a start, his heart pounding away under his uniform. He blinked once at his surroundings, the image of his dreams starting to fade away from reality. The feeling of unease in his stomach refused to shift. Only moments ago, he had been back at Raven Rock – his home for over twenty years. Everything had been alight with flames and plasma. The Brotherhood had been there, capturing his officers and executing them before his very eyes. He remembered how his throat had tightened until the point where he couldn't even breathe as he watched his soldiers - his boys - killed one by one. And there was not a damned thing he could do about it.

Autumn's gloved hands clenched into rock hard fists under the blankets. He took several deep, calming breaths to steady himself; to remind himself that it was all just a nightmare and nothing more. It was not the first time he had suffered from such night terrors. And it wouldn't be the last.

Once the dream had been banished back to the furthest reaches of his mind, Autumn looked around the bedroom he was currently occupying. No, this was defiantly _not_ his Raven Rock quarters but…It was not the Rivet City jail either. He was in a bed – quite a nice one if the truth be told – and he could not remember how exactly he had got there. Autumn could remember being in the "Muddy Rudder" as the locals called it. He also distinctly remembered getting arrested for something. Then he ended up in the Brig and...

Yes, that was it. The Lone Wanderer. The Kid from Vault 101. The Best, Last hope of humanity. Katherine Cameron, "Katie" she liked to call herself if his memory served him correctly. She would have made a fine Enclave officer, with the only snag being the issue of her father and Autumn's role in his demise. Unfortunate, yet unavoidable. He didn't understand why she had bailed him out of jail and simply asked for his assistance with a few errands in return. Colonel Autumn snorted at the indignity of it all. It was all her fault that he was in such a predicament. If anything, she should have been helping him, not the other way around.

He stared at the ceiling of the bedroom, mulling over the situation and trying to figure out just how he could regain control. He could try and kill her, again, but look where that had got him last time. A damn mess is where that had got him.

Perhaps they could be allies, at least for a while. She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders and she now viewed the accursed Brotherhood of Steel these days in the same light as he.

Plus she was not hard on the eyes, an added bonus in his books. Pity she was nearby thirty years his junior.

The Colonel sat up in the double bed and suddenly felt odd, as if something was missing. It took him another sluggish moment or two to realise that his coat been removed as well and had been draped on the chair by the desk, along with his boots. Most of his weapons were on the table sitting on top of the desk including his trademark 10mm pistol, his customised Laser pistol, the Plasma rifle and pistol. When had she brought them here? Questions for later.

Some effort was spent before Autumn managed to coax himself into pushing back the blankets. It had been good to sleep without having to worry about being ambushed by Brotherhood forces or Super Mutants or raiders. He felt rather recharged and ready to take on the Brotherhood and the Wasteland once again.

His stomach, however, disagreed.

Autumn rubbed his stomach with a gloved hand, feeling it rumble and grumble. It had been some time since he had last eaten. Perhaps this Cameron girl had some food in her cupboards. If not, he was certain to send her out with her wallet to find him some.

Without further hesitation, Autumn swung his legs off the bed and slid his boots back onto his cold feet. The colonel adored his steel capped, genuine leather boots. Nearly five years old and still just as sturdy as the day he got them. They were one of his most prized possessions – apart from the Enclave overcoat that every Wastelander and their mother seemed to eye up when he passed. He swung his coat back on, sighing as the familiar weight settled onto him. He felt better than he had done for close to two weeks.

All thanks to a goodnights sleep.

Upon reaching the living room, Autumn discovered that the Lone Wanderer was already awake and was bustling around the box she had the audacity to call a kitchen. Autumn knew a kitchen when he saw one and the...broom cupboard she was trotting around in was certainly not his idea of a kitchen. Evidence of a couple of blankets and a few pillows suggested that the girl had slept on the couch the previous night while he had the bed. Any other man might have felt some level of guilt but he didn't.

After all, she _had_ ruined _his_ life. Giving up her bed for the night was the least she could do.

Cameron appeared at the threshold to the kitchen, still in her pyjamas and had a box of Sugar Bombs in her hands. Locks of black hair had come loose from a ponytail, sticking in odd angles and taunting gestures in the face of gravity. She blinked at him like a startled mole rat and tugged up one of the shoulder straps that had been sliding down. Don't flatter yourself kid he wanted to say, but held his tongue.

But Autumn took comfort in the fact that she looked worse than he. "Good morning colonel, I was just about to come wake you." She gave the cereal box a shake as if to rouse his stomach. "You want some breakfast?"

His churning stomach rumbled in response. He sat down on one of the chairs in front of the table. Cameron returned a few moments later with a dusty spare bowl, another bottle of Brahmin milk and a pitcher that was filled with what he assumed was coffee. "What time is it?" Autumn asked. He had lost his wristwatch somewhere in the Jefferson Memorial and not had a chance to mosey on round and retrieve it – if it were even still there.

The girl flopped down in the chair opposite, her denim overcoat draped over her shoulders. He didn't know why she bothered. He wasn't exactly interested in her. "About eight I think. Which is perfect since there is a few things we need to discuss."

Autumn looked up from his breakfast sharply, not liking where the conversation was going. "Like what exactly?"

Cameron laced her fingers together and leaned forward on the old table, giving him a look he wasn't sure he liked. "Like you for instance. We should probably lay down some ground rules."

"And what might those be?" Autumn asked and gave his cereal a spoon in a rather careless manner, giving the impression that he cared very little for anything that she had to say.

Which he didn't.

"For starters Autumn. I don't want to wake up dead. I need to be able to trust that you don't try and kill me while I sleep," the girl explained, pouring herself a cup of coffee before filling his own chipped mug.

"How can you 'wake up dead?' that doesn't make any sense. What do they teach you in those Vaults?" the silver haired man asked before taking a sip and wincing. It was hardly the coffee he was accustomed to but it would do in the mean time.

She raised her brow at him. "You know what I mean."

Autumn gave a snort before continuing. "As tempting as it is kid, I'll pass. Every other attempt I've made to end you hasn't worked so far. And I hate you for the record," he added, just in case she had forgotten.

Cameron just smirked. "Well, I could hardly be called your biggest fan either," she responded before continuing with her demands. "So it's agreed then? We don't try and kill each other? Accidental or otherwise?"

"You have my word. For what it's worth to you at least."

She smiled again, looking relieved. How could she be so trusting? Such a silly little girl she was. "And you have mine. Also, we share whatever supplies we get okay?"

"Agreed. Anything else?" Autumn asked before taking in a spoonful of Sugar Bombs.

"Yeah." She looked him squarely in the eye and, without any shame or hesitation, she answered: "I shouldn't have to say this but keep your hands to yourself Autumn." She said it so candidly and suddenly that Autumn nearly choked on his breakfast.

How dare she?!

"What kind of person do you think I am?" Autumn demanded, wearing an expression that used to send officers regardless of rank running for the nearest escape

But she wasn't an Enclave officer, and he certainly wasn't in Raven Rock. Cameron simply raised her eyebrows again – which he was already beginning to dislike. "Don't get your panties in a twist. I was just making sure you knew the boundaries. I woke up to you, half naked in Raven Rock. You have to admit, it doesn't make you look good," Cameron explained in her cool-as-a-cucumber-tone.

Autumn felt heat rise up his neck but he kept his glare level with her. "It was protocol."

"I'm sure it was." Her tone suggested that she did not believe his statement in the slightest.

Autumn frowned again, unable to prove his point. "Right okay. Don't be a lecherous pervert. Is that all?" he said shortly, just wanting to move on from that conversation.

She clicked her tongue at him, the metal stud inside her mouth clinking against her teeth. Personally, Autumn found the piercing revolting. He had no idea why young people felt the overwhelming need to pierce their body parts with bits of metal. It was just ridiculous and stupid and disgusting.

"I think that's all. Apart from the obvious to stay away from the Brotherhood of Steel."

"Certainly. I don't particularly feel like being turned into target practice for those boy scouts," Autumn remarked, stirring his cereal.

"Well, as long as we keep out of sight of them, that shouldn't be a problem." 

He looked up, genuinely curious. "Back this truck up a moment, don't you work for them?"

Cameron took a mouthful of sugar bombs before continuing. "Not really, I help Bigsley with some water deliveries. He pays well. Other than that, I have very little to do with them," she explained leisurely as if she were reporting the weather.

He frowned again in suspicion, a look that he was becoming accustomed to wearing around the lone wanderer. "Can I ask why?"

The woman looked up at him and something in her facial expression changed. For a second, Cameron looked nothing like the wasteland soldier that had stared across the rotunda at the Jefferson Memorial at him with hard, determined eyes. And with an even more determined gun. She looked like a lost girl, fighting because she did not know how to do anything else. "Because, they took my parents project from me that's why." She paused for a moment, seemingly trying to find the right words. "I mean, I'm used to people trying to take it from me. It hurt more because I had honestly thought that they were my allies. I expected it with you, with The Enclave."

"Presidents orders kid, not mine," Autumn defended, lying through his chemically whitened teeth. The less she knew, the better.

"Yeah, but I still expected it Colonel. But now, I don't even get a say in what happens to it. Everything related to Project Purity is decided by them. I'm on the outside looking in. It's the only thing of my parents I have left, and I've been shut out," she continued. Was that resentment he heard in her voice? Probably.

Cameron then shook her head and looked to him. "So, we're friends now yes?" The bitterness was gone, replaced by a lining of hope.

"Kid, I tried to kill you twice. I doubt we're 'friends'"

"Well allies at least then."

"Still can't quite get my head around that to be honest," he replied with a raised brow.

Cameron shrugged her slim shoulders. "I was the chaplain for my Vault for three years. If I don't practice that whole 'Forgive your enemies' shit, show my enemies mercy then I'm just a huge hypocrite. And I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a hypocrtie." She managed a half smile again. "So, friends?"

"For now yes. Until you start annoying," he replied shortly.

Cameron reached across the table and offered him her hand in friendship to seal the deal. He stared at her outstretched hand for a moment, before finally just throwing caution to the wind for once in his life. He didn't have anything else to lose after all. "Oh well, in for a penny," he stated before reaching forward and grasping her small hand between his gloved one.

She gave his hand a little squeeze before retracting her hand. "Thanks Autumn. This is going to work out great for us."

"That's _Colonel_ Autumn to you missy," the said Colonel remarked sternly, asserting some of his old authority into his voice. After all, she had to remember who he was exactly. Cameron smiled again, properly this time. "Okay okay _Colonel._ Eat up, have a big day today. We need to go to the market and the doctors, get you outfitted a little. We should probably see if Flak has got some energy cells -" And off the teenager went, nattering and chattering away to him as if he were an old friend.

It almost made him smile.

Almost.

To do so would imply that he enjoyed her company and he most certainly didn't. He tolerated her company. That was his story and he would stick to it.

Yet, as he drunk his coffee, he smiled behind the mug.


End file.
